Tiger Woods plays his second shot out of the bunker at the par-3 17th during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. / David Cannon, Getty Images

by Steve DiMeglio, USA TODAY Sports

by Steve DiMeglio, USA TODAY Sports

ORLANDO - Tiger Woods is back to eating up the par-5s. He couldn't do anything about playing partner Justin Rose, though.

Woods was 5-under par on the four par-5s at Bay Hill but slipped back with some sloppy bogeys and finished at 3-under 69 Thursday in the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

That left him four shots behind playing partner and clubhouse leader Rose (65). John Huh is alone in second at 67. John Rollins and Brad Fritsch shot 68. Woods, in defense of his title, is in a large group at 69, which includes Ryo Ishikawa and Nick Watney.

"I played all right," Woods said. "I didn't hit it my best, that's for sure. But I scored well. I putted well today.

" â?¦ I took care of the par-5s. I didn't birdie them the way I like to, except when I made the eagle. I hit some bad shots but was able to chip the ball onto the green and make a putt."

Starting on No. 10, Woods hit red numbers with a 20 footer for birdie on the par-5 12th, then hit the top of the leaderboard with an eagle on the downwind par-5 16th, courtesy of a 350-yard drive and a wedge from 154 yards to 13 feet.

But he fanned an iron into the bunker on the next hole for a bogey and made his second consecutive bogey at the 18th when he found the rough with his tee shot.

Woods picked up another birdie by devouring another par-5, this time at No. 4, to move back into the top-10.

His drive found a bad lie in the rough, but after a layup, Woods knocked his approach to 11 feet and canned the putt.

The putter remained warm on No. 5 when Woods knocked his approach from 173 yards to 17 feet and rolled in his second consecutive birdie to move to 3 under. It was his seventh one-putt green (through 14 holes).

Woods made it three birdies in a row with another red number on the fourth par-5 of the round - the horseshoe par-5 6th. Woods was off the green to the right of the pin after his second shot and flopped his third over a bunker and made the ball check to 9 feet. From there, he rolled in the putt to move to 4 under. It was his eighth one-putt green.

Woods' birdie run ended at No. 7 when his tee shot on the par-3 wound up in a bunker. He blasted to 12 feet but two-putted for bogey.

"I putted well today," said Woods, who needed 28 putts. "I made a few putts. I didn't really have it early. The pace, I was surprised how slow the greens were with the rains that we had (Wednesday). They started drying out and started picking up pace. The downwind, down-grain putts started to get some pretty good speed. Like the putt we had at 8, that putt had some jets to it, so I think that's what we're going to have on the weekend."

Rose's only stumble came early on a bogey at No. 11, his second hole of the day.

From there, Rose was rolling: Birdie on 13, eagle on 16, birdie on 17 and then four consecutive birdies on Nos. 4-7.